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Southside Report Sunday 10/13, Tuesday 10/15

Sloooooooooow in the Portage area! Cold, sideways rain. Temps in the low 40's and barely anything flying. We arrived at the parking lot Sunday morning and discovered another hunter planning on hunting the blind I have built-up over the years. First come/first dibs, but he was gracious enough to share since we had dogs. We killed everything in range which was only a gwt and a hen mallard. We had a group of three more gwt's skirt just out of range. I'm surprised to see the teal still around here in October.

The weather forecast was about the same for Tuesday. The steady rain over the last few days has added about 1 foot of water to the marsh. Today had a little less rain, the same wind, and even less birds. My hunting buddy got bored and went for a walk. A pair of goldeneyes slipped by him and that was it. We saw one pair of birds as we were walking out which could have been the same pair. The adjacent marsh had a little shooting, but overall things are nearing an end I'm afraid.

I keep hoping for a push of northern birds, but I'm afraid they have already slipped by? The interior temps have been mild but more than temps drive the migration. All of the raptors (except eagles) are gone. the song birds are gone, the leaves are gone, and at least for this area, most of the ducks are gone. I was out of town for a week and a half but when I left there were big flights of divers in the area. They are gone too. The Girdwood ponds and Potter Marsh are barely holding any ducks.

Interesting, still seeing fair numbers of birds in the hayflats and the geese are still here by the hundreds. Raptors and song birds are still present. The weather was about the same raining and blowing. Little slower today than Friday but the weather was no doubt a factor. Thinking the birds are concentrating on feeding as even the geese weren't as active today as a few days ago. Geese came of the roost and flew to the east and didn't see any return until late this evening. They had been moving about far more a week ago. Hoping to bag a few more before they make the push south will see what the weather brings. The mallards I have been shooting are fatting up and many full plumage birds.